


Back to Work

by NotEvenCloseToStraight



Series: Short Stories! [62]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Boys In Love, Established Relationship, Fluff, Insecure Bucky, M/M, Protective Tony Stark, Short & Sweet, winteriron
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-27
Updated: 2020-06-27
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:55:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,253
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24936412
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NotEvenCloseToStraight/pseuds/NotEvenCloseToStraight
Summary: Sam thinks Bucky should get a job to re-integrate into civilian life but Bucky doesn't think it will work out.Good thing Tony owns a mechanic shop and can't wait to spend all day leering at his beefy boyfriend getting greasy beneath pretty cars.Perfect job? Check and check.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Tony Stark
Series: Short Stories! [62]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/786345
Comments: 20
Kudos: 525
Collections: Great stories





	Back to Work

“What do you mean, I should get a job?” It had been a while since Bucky had used his patented Murder Scowl on anyone, but right now the full force of that glare was directed towards Sam, and the glower didn’t let up even when Tony reached for his hand and pressed at his palm. “Why th'hell would I do _that_?”

“You don’t have to do anything.” Tony was quick to jump in and interrupt whatever Sam was going to say. He knew there was a fine line between terrified- Bucky and furious-Bucky, and even though the two emotions tended to overlap, right now there was only fear in those pale eyes. “Bucky baby? You don’t have to do anything if you don’t want to.”

“Tony’s right.” Sam shifted back on his seat and surreptitiously raised his notebook a little higher as if the flimsy paper would be any sort of shield if Bucky just hauled off and clocked him. The counselor was aware of the fine line between terrified Bucky and furious Bucky too, but he _also_ knew that being scared hadn’t ever stopped the former Winter Soldier from punching the shit outta whatever got in his way. “You don’t have to do it if you don’t want.”

“Then why’d you bring it up?” Bucky relaxed only the tiniest bit. “Why’d ya even say it?”

“Cos an important part of healing is taking steps to be part of society again.” Sam had his ‘Therapist’ voice on, direct but calm, soothing but also brooking no argument. “You said you wanted to get better so I’m helping you get better. You’ve done great with life here in the Tower, Bucky. The nightmares are almost non existent and you don’t even snap at Clint any more when he gets in your space. The next step is re-integrating into life _outside_ the Tower, and finding a job would be a good start.”

“We all do it.” Tony squeezed at Bucky’s hand comfortingly. “Even Cap and Natasha. I go and do real, Pepper-approved work at Stark Industries two days a week. Steve teaches art classes at the college, Natasha works as a ballet instructor at that girls school down the road. Clint bags groceries for some reason–”

“–it gives him plenty of people to flirt with and requires very little concentration.” Sam supplied and Tony grinned.

“–Thor works at the animal shelter on their weekly adoption days because no one could say _no_ to an animal from him, and even though Bruce isn’t comfortable working outside the Tower, a few times a week he does lectures via video conferencing.”

“That’s volunteer work.” Bucky pointed out. “Don’t matter if they go or not, that’s not the same as a job.”

“Oh no, they all get paychecks.” Sam countered. “Just like I still pull a paycheck for my counseling work. I’m not saying you have to have a job and earn money to be worth anything, I’m saying it would go a long way towards making you feel human. _Normal_. Like Bucky Barnes instead of just 'Sergeant Barnes, the Winter Soldier.”

“No ones gonna hire me.” Bucky said bluntly. “Even if Tony put in a good word or Stevie All American charmed some one into interviewin’ me, no one’s gonna _hire_ me. I gotta metal arm and seventy years worth’a PTSD and no manners.”

“There are jobs that don’t require much customer service.” Sam tried to sound hopeful. “And I really think interaction with non avenger type people would be good for you.”

“It definitely keeps me focused.” Tony chimed in. “Pepper makes me work on reports and payroll so I’m forced to see how much work people are doing for how much money, and how our profits look compared to how many of my employees are living below the poverty line–”

Sam raised his eyebrows and Tony finished, “Which is _none_ , thank you. But if I didn’t do that work I’d have no idea and honestly, I can’t promise I’d care. Steve’s job keeps him connected to the generation of kids that will be writing laws here in a few years. Natasha’s keeps her grounded and reminded that people at least start out good. Clint– I dunno what Clint learns at his job, but he knows the name of every single person who comes in, which means he’s really plugged into the community. It’s good for them, good for the people of the city, good for everyone.“

"Well, what would I do?” Bucky made a fist, silver fingers gleaming. “Who wants to look at this every day?”

“I can put some feelers out and see who’s hiring.” Sam answered. “Except for Bruce and obviously Tony, we all keep jobs outside of Stark-or-Avenger influence so it feels more real. I’ll make a list, make a few calls and we’ll figure it out, okay?”

“…okay.” Bucky sounded entirely _unsure_ of the whole thing, and Tony leaned close to whisper, “Bucky bear, say the word and I’ll tell Sam to fuck off. You don’t have to do this, alright? It’s okay.”

“You think I should do it though.” Bucky whispered back. “Don’t you?”

“I think it would be good for you to realize that most people aren’t going to treat you like you have the plague.” Tony dropped a quick kiss on Bucky’s cheek. “I know reporters look at you funny and the Department of Defense thinks you’re gonna crash their doors in at any minute but I’m telling you, the average person in New York won’t even look twice. Sam’s right, having that sorta response will make you feel normal.”

“You said I don’t hafta be normal.”

“And you said that some days all you want is to be human again.” Tony countered. “A job would help with that. But if you don’t want to? No harm done babe. We’ll move on and try something different.”

Bucky thought he might actually be sick to his stomach, thought he could lean over right there and vomit on the floor because the thought of stepping outside the safety and acceptance of the Tower to be around strangers who just _stare_ –

–well that was just fucking terrifying.

But Tony was blinking up at him with those big puppy dog eyes, hopeful and non judgmental and adoring and _hell_ Bucky would do just about anything to make sure Tony was proud of him.

“I’ll do it.” he finally agreed, and Tony’s blinding smile was almost worth the anxiety clawing at the back of his throat and making it hard to breathe. “Find me a job, Sam.”

**************

**************

One week later Bucky was dressed in dark blue jeans and a lighter blue button up, shoulder length hair combed and pulled back into a neat bun, silver hand covered with a skin-tone glove and holding a letter of recommendation from Sam so he could maybe get hired at an auto body shop.

Mechanical work had seemed like a good choice– he was more than strong enough to haul around the heavy things, his left hand fine tuned to nearly impossible measurements thanks to Tony’s constant tinkering, and back before the war and Hydra Bucky had been real interested in mechanics and building things and the science of how it all went together.

Auto body shops didn’t see a whole lot of customers either, and no one expected a mechanic to be overly charming, so there was _that_ working in Bucky’s favor too.

Still, his heart was in his throat and stomach in knots as he sat in the rudimentary waiting area of the shop and waited for the owner to come and give him an interview.

The cars inside were all classics, all in various states of restoration. One truck looked like it had been put through a crusher, another car was gleaming and gorgeous and obviously just there for an oil change or maybe new tires. The walls were lined with pictures of cars at different shows, pretty women and even shiny looking men draped over the hoods in various, ridiculously provocative poses.

The music felt a little bit familiar, some old jazz mixed with the sorta music Tony sometimes played and for whatever reason, that relaxed Bucky just the littlest bit. He could handle tinkering around on old cars and listening to semi familiar music. That – that could be okay. Maybe this wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world. Maybe for once Sam was fucking _right_ about something and getting a job would be alright.

“Mr. Barnes?” the girl at the front desk snapped her fingers at him and motioned him towards the office door. “Go on in.”

 _Fuck fuck fuck_. Just like that, any sense of being okay disappeared and Bucky was once again a nervous, knotted mess. _Fuck fuck fuck fuck._

He kept Tony’s gorgeous smile firmly in his mind across the over long walk to the office, kept thinking how proud his favorite genius would be when Bucky came home with a job, thought about how he could take his fella out for a dinner date with that first paycheck and that would be really really good, so with one last deep breath–

–Bucky opened the door.

“Hey. My name’s Bucky Barnes, Sam Wilson told me to come by and see if you were hiring?”

“Is that so?” the chair behind the desk swiveled round and Bucky blinked in surprise when Tony grinned up at him. “Oh yeah, my first impression was right. You are _definitely_ gonna have to sleep with the boss to get this job. We call those couch auditions, and I think you’re going to do just swell.”

“Couch auditions…” Bucky looked back out into the garage, then over again at Tony in confusion. “What is going on?” 

"Did you _really_ think I was going to put you through getting a job with people who don’t know you, a boss that wouldn’t have any idea where to start talking to you, and in a situation I couldn’t at least somewhat monitor?”

Bucky made a helpless gesture, and Tony raised his eyebrows meaningfully. “Call me nosy or weirdly controlling or what have you, but Bucky bear, there’s no way I was gonna tell you to just jump right into working. That’s insane.”

“But– but you said it’d be a good idea.”

“And it is a good idea.” Tony came out from behind the desk and reached for Bucky’s left hand, pushing away the glove so he could wind his fingers through the silver digits. “So you can work _here_. I own the place, this is where I do most of my remodels on my cars now that Bruce has taken over the lab. I take in custom jobs from a few friends, I keep a small staff and wouldn’t you know it? There’s room for a hunky ex soldier with the hottest scowl ever, too.”

“You said we should get jobs _outside_ the influence of Stark or Avengers.” Bucky said quietly, still not quite believing what was happening.

“No, Sam said that and sometimes Sam sucks.” Tony answered mildly. “Fact is, everyone wants Captain America to teach an art class, and Clint makes a great grocery guy. Bruce is the smartest guy in the world, so he should be doing lectures. Tasha is terrifying but she’s trained in ballet so that job makes sense. Thor is _literally_ a puppy, so the animal shelter works out. I should do the Stark Industries work because that’s my last name on the board, and you?”

He tugged Bucky in for a careful kiss. “ _You_ should do something you enjoy and I know you enjoy working on my cars and listening to classic rock.”

“This counts as a real job?” Bucky mumbled into another kiss and Tony teased, “I’ll even cut you a super real paycheck. Minimum wage to start, but you got lots of potential, I can see you getting a raise no problem.”

“Will I get a raise faster if I blow the boss?” Bucky finally managed a smile, and was rewarded with one of Tony’s ear to ear grins in return. “Or ya know, bend him over th’ hood of one of those fancy cars?”

“Both of those activities will earn you a hell of a raise.” Tony promised with a laugh, but he sobered up to ask, “Is this okay? I don’t want you to think I don’t think you’re capable of a real job or doing this on your own.”

“I don’t think that, sugar.”

“Because really this is just me being over protective of you and maybe even a little selfish because now I get to watch you get all greasy and sweaty underneath a gorgeous car.” Tony continued with a smile bordering on wicked. “And since getting to protect your big butt and watching you work on cars is, two of my favorite turn ons, _obviously_ you can see why I set you up here.”

“Obviously.” Bucky gave in and gave Tony the real kiss the smaller brunette was obviously angling for, backing him up into the desk and shoving his hands into all that hair before kissing Tony absolutely _stupid_.

And once his favorite person was giggling and breathless and making a joke about giving Bucky a raise right then and there, Bucky leaned close and whispered, “Thank you, babydoll. Sure do love you.”

“Love you too.” Tony whispered back. “Now get out there in a tank top and do something sexy like lift an engine block with one hand.”

“Oh sure thing, sweet thing.”


End file.
